A Superior Township man who allegedly strangled and pointed a gun at a family member he lived with had his bond reduced from $1 million to $250,000 Wednesday

Washtenaw County prosecutors say Ricky Rice, 36, pulled a gun on the victim, threatened to shoot her and her dog and then strangled her to the point that blood came out of her mouth and nose on the morning of Aug. 21 when an argument stemming from the night before continued.

Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Arianne Slay said in court Wednesday Rice strangled the victim so badly that if he had not let up, she would have been dead seconds later.

“The victim was near death,” Slay said after describing the incident.

Rice is facing two charges of assault with intent to murder, two charges of assault with intent to do bodily harm less than murder, a charge of unlawful imprisonment, a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, two charges of interfering with electronic communications, a charge of assaulting, resisting or obstructing a police officer, a charge of domestic violence, a charge of reckless us of firearms and a felony firearms charge.

Prosecutors have made a plea offer to Rice, but his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Laura Dudley, said he had declined it. Judge Archie Brown set a trial date for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 3.

Rice is the father of three children and works as a project engineer at Focus: HOPE.

Slay said Rice and the victim had been arguing on the night of Aug. 20, and the argument continued the next morning.

According to Slay, Rice began assaulting the victim by hitting her with an open hand in the face and stopped her from making a call on a cellphone before informing her that he was going to shoot her. Slay said Rice then went into the garage and grabbed the victim’s revolver, which he pointed at her and moved closer to her as she lay on the floor.

Slay said the victim then escaped and ran into a bedroom, where Rice allegedly was pacing outside. When Rice heard the victim attempt to make a phone call on a second cellphone, he broke into the room and took the phone away from her, Slay said.

Rice allegedly grabbed a brown belt and wrapped it around the victim’s throat and would not allow her to breathe. Slay said Rice dragged the victim from the bedroom into the kitchen of the home, where Rice noticed blood coming from the victim’s mouth and nose. The sight of blood convinced Rice to loosen his grip on the belt, Slay said.

The victim broke loose from Rice in the kitchen and ran into the garage, where Rice again strangled her — this time with a t-shirt, according to Slay. The victim again broke free, and encountered neighbors on the front lawn of the home, who called the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrested Rice at the home.

The gun apparently discharged by itself before deputies arrested Rice, and he was found with superficial cuts on his wrists, Slay said. A full can of gasoline also was found in the home’s bathroom, she said.

Dudley said alcohol is believed to have been a major factor in the incident, which she said was out of character for Rice. Dudley said she had spoken with the victim, who said there had never been any history of abuse between her and Rice before.

When arguing for bail to be lowered to 10 percent of $30,000, Dudley said Rice is not a threat to the community and will not contact the victim. However, she did not downplay the allegations against Rice.

“This is nothing to laugh about, this is a very serious case,” she said.

If convicted of assault with intent to murder, Rice faces up to life in prison. All of the other charges also result in significant jail time and fines if Rice is convicted.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.